Now what would she do? She had thought being with him was a safe venture. Safe because he wasn’t the staying kind, safe because he hadn’t once tried to pretend that he was something he was not. Now she realized that those facts had merely made him more dangerous.

“Ye should be excited,” Annie chatted on, “for ’twill be a fine ball. Now come, listen to what I have planned fer yer gown.”

Annie began to talk and Kat forced herself to smile, though she felt far from it.

It wasn’t quite so difficult to really smile once she heard Annie’s idea for the gown. The housekeeper had outdone herself. She would use the straw silk borrowed from the saved curtain linings to make a slashed overdress with puffed sleeves and decorate it with no fewer than eight tiny, hand-sewn rosettes of blue silk from Kat’s old ball gown. Annie would then use the remaining blue silk as insets in the sleeves and for the petticoat, which would be revealed in the slashes on the overdress. The overall effect would be simply beautiful and, when combined with Kat’s reddish hair, breathtaking.

At least when Devon saw Kat for the last time, she wouldn’t be wearing a gown smudged with soot. She lifted her chin a little. Whatever else she did, she would not let him see how much she cared. This time, she would keep her pride intact, no matter the cost.

She caught sight of Annie’s speculative gaze and hurried to paste a smile back on her lips. “Annie, it will be a lovely gown.”

Annie beamed. “’Tis glad I am to hear that ye think so, Miss Kat. Ye know, ye look a mite flushed.” Annie laid her hand across Kat’s brow. “Are ye taking an ague?”

Kat shook her head. “’Tis excitement, that’s all.” And not just over the ball.

“Hm. Well, ’tis to the bath wid ye and then we’ll see how ye’re feeling.” Annie went to the wardrobe and fished about for one of Kat’s robes. “Here, put this on. Ye don’t need to be getting cold afore ye soak in the tub.”

A clattering in the hallway preceded Simon and Hamish’s reentry. They carried two large steaming buckets, which they tipped into the brass tub. “One more trip will do it,” Hamish said, his gaze fixed on Kat.

“Mornin’ Miss Kat,” Simon said, eyeing her even more closely than Hamish.

There was something odd in the way they looked at her, but Annie didn’t give them time to say anything. She sent them to fetch more water while she straightened the room. Finally the tub was filled to the brim, and Annie sent the lads on their way.

Annie went to the tub and added some scent, then dipped her elbow into the water. “Perfect! Come along, now. Into the tub wid ye.”